Flotsam, race notes	42

 

Flotsam, 1999   photo by Jim Foster

An Aeolian Story: One Of Those Days   "One Of Those Days" usually has a negative connotation referring to a day when things seem go wrong. However, there are days when events turn out right, despite your wrong decisions and actions. Today, Aeolian Yacht Club - Lawson Race, August 10, in the year of our Lord 2002, was such a day. What do we mean when we say, "today" as in "One of Those Days", and where does today begin. Some say today begins at midnight, somewhere between 24:00 hours and 00:00 hours. Others believe today begins in yesterday, and that yesterday began at the point of nowhere many lights years ago expanding universally toward the present. Today was, is, will be, an event string of nano-seconds called the present connected to a past, called yesterday. This past leads us toward a future called, tomorrow. And tomorrow is filled with branches of probabilities, possibilities and certain uncertainties. Those who sail on water, with ebb and flood, wind and wave, sun and rain, know, and will tell you true, there are spirits from yesterday that can decide the race of today, no matter what you do. This tale begins somewhere in yesterday. You must go astern a life time or so for this race begins for me with Robert A. Keleher. On August 1st, my uncle Bob, friend and mentor, set his sails for the last time. Uncle Bob was a great yachtsman - too many trophies to count. He was a yacht racing competitor for as long as I can remember. Today, Ted Todd, racing first mate, and friend of Bobs for many years, brought flowers, to toss over our stern, when we crossed the finished line - in honor of Bob's ghost - which we did. The day before this race I was getting FLOTSAM ready. There was a bronze screw missing on the hatch track, and deterioration to a second screw. I need to take the track off and replace all the screws, known as the proverbial "to do list". Through my negligence, I had not replaced the missing screw. On the previous race, the forward edge of the track had caught on something and the track was bent upward, making it a minor hazard (a minor hazard can easily become a major hazard). I am a believer in the 5 P's (Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance) and get a little frustrated when the gods of fate throw obstacles in the path of my plans. Bill, a.k.a. Barnacle Bill, has his yacht birthed near to mine. Bill is usually at the harbor, working on his boat or expounding the philosophies of world events seen through the eyes of a retired civil engineer. Bill loves boating, and is always free with yachting maintenance advice (good and bad). He is very helpful in pointing out my work imperfections (free quality control). He noted the hatch track was bent, as I bemoaned that I did not have time to fix it, before this race. Bill, said he may have a bronze screw that would fit, he did, and gave it to me (no charge). I replaced the missing screw, without any of the usual things that can go wrong and the track was back in its proper place. What are the odds of that happening? Note: I still need to replace the other screws. Today, Bill, volunteered to give my yacht, FLOTSAM a tow out the estuary, to assure that we would get to the race on time (a complete surprise - he has never done that before). The wind was very light, the current against us, and we accepted Bills offer --- And he did tow us. Through out this racing season my daughter, Stacey Keleher, a member of my racing crew, has not been able to make the races, and I have not been able to do better than a second place. This Saturday, she made the race. This race we came in first. Weather at the start of the race was sunny, mostly light wind, and large holes of no wind. Not the kind of weather Stacey likes (30+ knots of wind, and adrenaline rush), but it was the kind that my yacht, FLOTSAM often does its best in. Like so many things of this race day, it was unusual. The starting line was laid out between the committee boat and the starting buoy in such a way, that it was a down wind start... a down wind start is a rare event. The 10 minute warning gun went off as predicted and all the yachts racing started jockeying for a good starting position. Then an unusual event occurred, the 5 minute warning gun did not go off (or was I deaf, that I did not hear). For those who find comfort in routine, predictability, this can cause some minor confusion --- my excuse for making the worse start I have ever made. We arrived almost 1 minute early to the starting line, was forced over the line, and had to tack back through the line to make a proper start... losing time. We were the last boat to start. Not all is lost at the start of a race, rather it is the finish that counts. "It ain't over till the fat lady sings". Following the fleet to their first course mark # 32s (Buoy Fl Y 4s "A", 2nm E of Pt. Avisadero) Aeolus (Greek God of Wind) decided to hold her breath, as the Fleet sailed into a "hole" of no wind, and drifted with the flood current toward the mark. There was no way around the hole. This allowed FLOTSAM to come up from behind and join the racing fleet. Then Aeolus began to play her games. A puff of wind here, a puff over there, and no wind over there, with each racing yacht changing sail trim, to catch whatever breath Aeolus was sending their way. Somehow FLOTSAM moved as if a spirit was beneath her keel. "...Under the keel nine fathom deep, From the land of mist and snow, The spirit slid; and it was he, That made the ship to go.", from the poem, "The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner", (Samuel Coleridge). Before rounding the first mark, we noted Aeolus offered a narrow finger of wind stretching from the first mark for about a mile back, going toward the second mark of the course. We rounded the first mark to starboard, trimming our sails in hard for a close reach, now in 2nd place, a few seconds behind the yacht, FREE SPIRIT. The next question was when to tack, and go for the finger of wind Aeolus offered. FREE SPIRIT, tacked first and took our stern by a few inches. We stayed on our starboard tack about a minute longer to assure we could stay within the finger of Aeolus; then tacked to port. We had our private steady breeze, and Aeolus smiled as we passed the fleet by several boat lengths. We headed almost directly toward the second course mark # 30s (Pier "E" of Bay Bridge, west of Treasure Island). Alas, nothing lasts forever, and Aeolus finger ended. The god Zephyrus, saw our plight, and came ever so lightly to our aid, bringing a zephyr from the west. FLOTSAM had to change course by 45 degrees but was still moving, making progress against the flood current, now heading toward the NAS Alameda channel shore. Slowly our zephyr increased until it became the almost normal afternoon South Bay breeze increasing to 10 - 15 knots. As the wind increased, our lead over PETITE SIRAH decreased (She is last years season champion and will probably be this years season champion). We made a few nice tacks along the NAS Channel shore, getting out of the current. But I failed to take the advice of my crew to make the last tack sooner than advised. I stayed out a little too long, and when we did tack we were in a slightly stronger current, than PETITE SIRAH. She closed the distance more, as we neared the Alameda estuary entrance, then only a few boat lengths behind tacked out. Again I had good advice from my crew. "Cover" the competition. Why didn't I heed this standard good advice? I was thinking that I would have less current to fight if I kept going and stayed in nearer the shore rather than go out. Aeolus frowned at my indiscretion and became lighter. I could see that PETITE SIRAH, had a stronger wind and was going to pass us. Realizing my mistake (mea culpa) after wasted minutes, we tacked to starboard for the better wind. Our competitor, was now ahead. The question was, could we save our time (corrected) and still win. As we neared course mark # 30s (Pier "E" of Bay Bridge) we made another tack going close to T.I. and then tacked out heading for the mark. I noted a freighter inward bound nearing the Bridge Pier and was concerned that she might interfere with our course, but was assured by my crew that by the time FLOTSAM arrived at the Bridge Pier, the freighter would not be a problem -- true. We rounded the mark to starboard and began a run to the next mark, finding PETITE SIRAH, several boat lengths ahead of us. The freighter was blasting warning signals at PETITE SIRAH. The current was now ebbing and PETITE SIRAH was being forced to parallel the freighter's course, which was perpendicular to the next mark. This was "One Of Those Day's" for PETITE SIRAH, as used in the normal negative connotation. By rounding the mark sooner, our competitors, course crossed paths with the freighter. This forced her to change course and take the freighters stern ... loosing time and distance. When PETITE SIRAH, made it around the freighters stern, FLOTSAM was again several boat lengths ahead and on a run, where she usually has an advantage. We maintained our lead as we headed for course mark # 35s (Daymark Fl G 2.5s "3", Alameda NAS entrance channel) taking 35 to starboard, and then heading for the Finish line, course mark Xp (going back through the starting line, in the same direction) taking X to port for the finish. FLOTSAM finished 3 minutes 34 seconds, ahead of PETITE SIRAH. This day, FLOTSAM did not need corrected time to win the race. The Committee Boat, fired the gun, given for first boat across the finish, and Ted spread flowers from the stern of FLOTSAM, on the ebbing tide to honor Bob's spirit. Race over and homeward bound, running down the estuary, Stacey steered, while Ted and I read poetry, "I tell you a tale tonight, which an old seaman told to me, with eyes that gleamed in the lanthorn light, and a voice as low as the sea" "The Admirals Ghost" (Alfred Noyes). After putting FLOTSAM in her berth and saying good night, we all had a shot of bourbon. Then home to grab some grub to take to the Aeolian Yacht Club pot luck dinner. It was "One Of Those Days", in the positive context - for me. Results of the Season - (considering the worse race as a throw out) first 5 races with 1 race to go (top 3 boats): Season Standing Yacht Name Points per race (1st = .75) 1st Place Petite Sirah .75 + .75 + 5 + .75 + 2 = 4.25 2nd Place Flotsam 2 + 6 + 3 + 2 + .75 = 7.75 3rd Place Free Spirit 3 + 3 + 2 + 6 + 3 = 11 Very Respectfully, Don Keleher Email: djkeleher@earthlink.net